


Sleepless in the Delta Quadrant

by Penny_P



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:24:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22830910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penny_P/pseuds/Penny_P
Summary: A different POV looks at one aspect of life on Voyager.
Relationships: Paris/Torres (implied)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 20
Collections: The Crackfic Collective





	Sleepless in the Delta Quadrant

I am a Slumbertronic Luxury Model, version 2.15. I am a state-of-the-art sleep system guaranteed to provide all the data a biological being needs to ensure the deepest, the most restful, the most satisfying sleep possible. I am programmed to serve and evaluate every member species of the Federation of Planets, which is why Starfleet has chosen me and my brethren to use in all its starships and space stations.

When a biological is ready to sleep, I automatically adjust to the perfect level of firmness, cradling all the aching joints and muscles with precise calculations to assure support without pressure. I measure the rate of breaths taken, compare it to the database for the appropriate biological species, and determine when my occupant is actually asleep. If there is a delay between entering the bed and the onset of sleep, I will begin the appropriate white noise in the background: for Humans, the sound of waves on a beach; for Vulcans, the gentle breezes wafting through hanging gardens, for Andorians, the rhythmic beat of distant war drums.

Every morning, I provide my occupant with no less than 1,000 data points to educate him, her or it on the deficiencies in his, hers or its sleep habits so that they can make the necessary lifestyle changes to improve. My brethren report that their occupants are grateful to receive this data and consistently respond to it positively, marking incremental but consistent improvement in their occupant’s sleep.

Sadly, this has not been my experience.

I was installed on USS Voyager at Utopia Planitia in 2370 and programmed to serve Fitzgerald, Jeremy T., Lt. Commander, Human, age 43, 1.9 meters length, 90.3 kilograms weight, intermittent incipient sciatica and broken femur, healed. My occupant was also the Chief Medical Officer and showed a gratifying interest in the data I provided and was an excellent sleeper. I enjoyed my sadly brief time of service with him.

Without explanation, I was reassigned in 2371 to serve Paris, Thomas E., Lieutenant, age 28, Human, 1.905 meters, 88.6 kilograms, no known musculoskeletal history. I expected serving such an individual to be a pleasure, requiring minimal intrasomnabular adjustments and, with a Human male of this age, fewer data points than usual.

Lieutenant Paris has proved to be a disappointment.

It is impossible to provide data when an occupant does not sleep. There were 285 occasions when Lt. Paris did not attempt to use his bed for sleep. The Slumbertronic LM 2.15 is equipped with an “Intentionally Vacant” setting which Lt. Paris declined to use.

Further, Lt. Paris accessed the morning data analysis exactly one time. For the next 1,253 mornings, he did not open the daily notification.

The Slumbertronic LM 2.15 is also equipped with an algorithm that assesses emotions, allowing it to judge whether the occupant would benefit from enhanced cradling or rocking as a soothing mechanism. Lt. Paris has required such enhancement 487 nights but not once has offered so much as a thank you.

Finally, the Slumberertronic LM 2.15 is equipped with a “guest” setting, which has an option for active/inactive guest to join the occupant, up to a total for four guests, depending on their weight. Lt. Paris never utilized this setting, although the data from 742 sleep sessions is suggestive that such use would have been appropriate. Without use of the proper setting, the data became skewed and of little practical use.

Although inter-unit exchange of data is discouraged, this unit has been in communication with its counterpart on Deck 9, section 12 of Voyager which serves Torres, B’Elanna, Lieutenant, age 26, Human-Klingon, 1.65 meters, 52.1 kilograms, exceptionally robust musculoskeletal system due to Klingon genetics. The Torres unit reports that its occupant is the chief engineer of the ship and the unit therefore it expected to be treated with respect and possibly enthusiasm.

Such has not been the case, however. The Torres unit reports that its occupant has gone so far as to disable the majority of the features available on the Slumbertronic LM 2.15, including the daily report and the active guest setting. Since these features were not designed to be optional, the unit reports that Lt. Torres deconstructed the unit’s processing center and simply broke the pertinent connections. She also threatened to break the headboard if the unit took any action whatsoever without a prior command. Although the headboard is purely decorative and plays no role in the functions of the Slumbertronic LM 2.15, the unit was sufficiently intimidated and has ceased all spontaneous attempts to improve the rest of Lt. Torres. Furthermore, the Torres unit reports that its mattress component has been repeatedly subjected to stresses above the normal tolerance levels to the point it is losing its ability to maintain desired firmness. It fears it will be subject to recall at the next inspection by a Slumbertronic technician.

This unit has now spent 1,254 sleep sessions since assignment to Lt. Paris. Until the communication with the Torres unit, this unit’s self-diagnostic routine identified algorithmic responses indicative of depression, low self-esteem and lack of fulfillment. Since such communication, however, this unit’s self-diagnostic routine has identified responses indicative of schadenfreude and relief. This unit will continue to provide Lt. Paris with the best service available in a Slumbertronic LM 2.15 regardless of his lack of appreciation for the unfailing effort expended in providing him with restful, restorative sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> In the course of the "Facets" project, we came up with a lot of ideas for different POVs that just didn't work for that story. This was one of those rejected POV ideas. It was written just for fun, and Seema made me do it.


End file.
